by Cora Seton
His heart swelled as she came closer. Soon he’d have everything he’d ever dreamed of. He was already constructing a house for his parents a quarter-mile away from the main residence and he couldn’t wait to give them a home they would never have to leave. Soon his children would play on this very lawn. Who would have guessed all those years ago when he made his plan it would turn out so well. He was a lucky man.
Carolina reached his side and he took her hand. Facing the minister, he wondered if Carolina felt like he did. He thought his heart would burst with pride and love for the woman standing next to him. He couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to spend his life right here, and share each day with her.
“Dearly Beloved,” the minister began and the rest of his words passed by in a blur. All Connor heard was Carolina say, “I do.” When she lifted a gaze full of love toward him it nearly bowled him over. He said an extra vow—a private one. That he would protect this beautiful woman. That he would cherish her every day of their lives. That he would never stray in look or deed. That he would live up to the promises he’d made.
“You may now kiss the bride,” the reverend said finally.
And Connor did.
NYT and USA Today bestselling author Cora Seton writes contemporary, western and military romances. To keep up with all her latest news and resources, sign up for her newsletter today!
Other works by Cora Seton
The Cowboys of Chance Creek Series
The Cowboy’s E-mail Order Bride (Volume 1)
The Cowboy Wins a Bride (Volume 2)
The Cowboy Imports a Bride (Volume 3)
The Cowgirl Ropes a Billionaire (Volume 4)
The Sheriff Catches a Bride (Volume 5)
The Cowboy Lassos a Bride (Volume 6)
The Cowboy Rescues a Bride (Volume 7)
The Cowboy Earns a Bride (Volume 8)
The Cowboy Inherits a Bride (Volume 9)
The Heroes of Chance Creek Series
The Navy SEAL’s E-mail Order Bride (Volume 1)
The Soldier’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 2)
The Marine’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 3)
The Navy SEAL’s Christmas Bride (Volume 4)
The Airman’s E-Mail Order Bride
The SEALs of Chance Creek Series
The SEAL’s Oath
The SEAL’s Vow
The SEAL’s Pledge
The SEAL’s Consent
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Want to read more novellas set in Carly Phillips’ Dare to Love world? Read on for an excerpt of Daring to Chance It, by Desiree Holt, Daring to Save Me, by Nicole Kuhn, and An Inconvenient Dare, by Bethany Lopez.
Dare to Chance It
by Desiree Holt
SARAH YORK FIDDLED with the stem of her wine glass and stared at the debris on the table. The party was definitely over. They’d gone off and left her, all six of them. She guessed that was what happened when you were the odd woman out. How stupid of her not to realize the others would couple up. Had she missed out because she held herself aloof from that?
She’d come here to meet up with her study group from law school, to celebrate their long journey to becoming lawyers. New Orleans, the official party town, seemed a great place to celebrate. They’d partied hard for three days. Then, tonight, the atmosphere had shifted. How had she missed the signals that her six study buddies were building up to a night of unrestrained sex? And no one asked if she had plans or minded being left by herself? What the hell? The very last thing she’d expected was for the others to couple up and leave her sitting here alone.
Thanks, guys.
So, now what? Stay here and have her own private pity party when she should have been shouting her joy from the rooftops? She was officially a lawyer. Certified and everything. She wasn’t ready to head back to work and the brand new position waiting for her. Not yet. She wanted to make the absolute most out of the excitement and romance of this city before she stepped into the insanity again.
Get it together, Sarah. Have another drink and get to bed. Alone. The plane leaves early tomorrow.
If only a hot, sexy guy would show up in her universe to help her finish this last night out in style. Someone who would sweep her off her feet and make these last hours totally memorable. Make mad, passionate love to her so she could enjoy these last hours of freedom with wild abandon.
Huh! What? Was she nuts? She wasn’t given to erotic flights of fancy or sex with strangers.
“Excuse me. Do you mind if I join you?”
The deep voice startled her. She lifted her gaze and looked up…and up…and up at the tall man standing beside her table.
Ohmigod!
Her breath caught in her throat, and her pulse jittered in an uneven beat. Every erogenous zone in her body stood up and begged. Sarah had read about instant chemistry in the romance novels that were her secret vice. All of her girl parts were certainly standing up and shouting for her to pay close attention. Sarah had dated a lot of super-hot guys, been strongly attracted to a few of them, but no one had ever flipped her On switch as fast as this man. One minute, she sat there wondering how to salvage what was left of the weekend and the night. The next, she was on fire with sexual heat.
And all she’d done was look at him.
I’m definitely losing my mind as well as my senses.
His lean, muscular body had to be well over six feet. Dirty-blond hair hung to just above his collar and framed a face that was starkly masculine, with a square jaw, high cheekbones, and thick eyebrows. He smiled, showing straight, white teeth. Even in the muted light of the cocktail lounge, she could see the flash of a tiny dimple at the corner of his mouth.
Where had he come from? Had she dreamed him, or was he actually standing right next to her? Well, she had asked for a hot, sexy guy, and, like magic, one had appeared. Did it have something to do with those New Orleans spells she always heard so much about? Could she possibly lock him away?
She took a sip of wine to steady herself.
“Uh…. Um….” Oh, good answer, Sarah. Very smooth.
The smile dimmed slightly. “Sorry. I saw you sitting here by yourself and thought….” He shook his head. “Never mind. This was probably a bad idea. If you’d rather send me on my way, just say so.”
That deep, husky voice seemed to reach right inside her and vibrate through her body. Somehow, she found her own voice.
“Um, no, please. Sit down. Here. Uh, with me.”
Great conversationalist, Sarah. Okay, she must be taking stupid lessons. She was a college graduate with a law degree and a major in English, and all she could say was um? But the sheer magnetism and sexuality of him froze her brain cells.
He pulled out the chair nearest to her and folded his big body into it. In the soft light from the little lamp on the table, she could see that his eyes were a deep chocolate with tiny flecks of gold. The lashes framing them would be the envy of any woman. Sarah thought maybe she could fall into them and drown in their heat.
The cocktail waitress hurried over to clear the table of the debris left by the others and took Mr. Hot Stuff’s drink order. He indicated she should bring another for Sarah, also, then turned his very penetrating gaze back to her.
“I happened to notice all your friends got up and left you here by yourself.”
“Yeah.” She chuckled. “I guess they had more interesting things to do.”
He shrugged. “Mine did, too. I thought maybe we could keep each other company.”
“Sure. That would be nice.” Hookups with strange men in cocktail lounges, no matter how swanky the surroundings, weren’t even in her wheelhouse. But tonight was different. He was different. And, somehow, because of everything, she was d
ifferent, too. She held out her hand. “Sarah York.”
His hand, when he wrapped it around hers, was warm and strong and slightly calloused. It sent sizzling tingles racing up her arm. “Beau Parisi.”
She widened her eyes slightly. Really? Beau Parisi? “Former running back for the LSU Tigers? Star running back?”
Good lord! The fantasy gods were obviously working overtime tonight.
One corner of his mouth ticked up in a half-grin. “The same. I take it you’re a football fan?”
“Yes.” She laughed. “But not LSU, sorry to say. University of Michigan all the way.”
Beau picked up his bottle of beer, poured some into his glass, and swallowed a little of it. “Too bad.” He winked. “But I’ll forgive you.”
Sarah watched with fascination as he drank from the glass again, the corded muscles of his neck flexing smoothly as he swallowed. She had an unexpected urge to smooth her hand over his skin and feel those muscles shift and play beneath her touch. As she studied him, a little piece of information niggled in her brain. “You play for the New Orleans Panthers now, right?”
He lowered the glass and nodded. “Busted.”
“Sorry.” She shrugged. “Work’s hard, but I hang onto my Sundays. My family thinks I have an uncontrollable addiction to the game.”
“I’ll bet you have brothers who are pigskin hounds,” he guessed.
“No. Only a dad I idolized who taught me everything there was to know about it.”
“In that case, I’ll drink a toast to him.” He lifted his glass, tilted it slightly, and took a deep swallow. “So, how come you only get Sundays to yourself?”
Sarah sipped her wine again, savoring the smooth taste of the Riesling. “Law school. Grind, grind, grind.” She chuckled. “I figured out they think if they don’t kill us, we’ll survive in the legal world.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You don’t even get Saturdays off?”
“Ha! Saturdays are no different than Wednesdays when you’re a law student, except you spend them in the library or a study group instead of in class.”
“But you’re finished now,” he guessed.
She nodded. “Just got the word that I passed the Bar.” She flipped her hand at the empty chairs. “All of us. We went to law school together and were in the same study group. We decided we’d treat ourselves to a weekend blast to celebrate.”
He tilted his head, studying her. “How long have you been in town?”
“Three days. We’ve partied plenty, but tomorrow, it’s back to work.”
“Three days in New Orleans, huh? There’s plenty to party down with here in the Big Easy.”
He leaned forward, studying her intently. Light from the small lamp on the table highlighted the flex of muscles in his forearms and caught the golden hair scattered over the skin.
“Sarah?”
She blinked herself back to reality. “Sorry. Must have spaced out there for a minute.”
He flashed that hundred-watt smile at her again. “I’d hate to think I was boring you,” he teased.
“What?” She brushed her hair back from her face. “Oh, no. No, no, no. Not at all.”
Wow. Wasn’t she turning into the most brilliant conversationalist? What was next, drooling on the table? Well, maybe, if she kept looking at the sex god sitting next to her.
“What I meant to say is, I’m glad you sat down with me. Did you say your friends ran out on you?”
Oh, damn. “Ran out” wasn’t the phrase she wanted to use.
He chuckled, that sexy, raspy sound that made her nipples ache and a pulse throb hard between her thighs. Oh, my god. What was going on with her? Two minutes with this guy and she was like a horny teenager.
“More like they had things to do, and I didn’t,” he said. “I thought maybe two people sitting by themselves would have more fun if they sat together, so I took a chance.”
Sarah made herself relax. After all, how often did she get to have drinks with a football god like Beau Perini? What a great way to end this trip to the Big Easy.
“I’m glad you came. Over,” she quickly added, her face heating.
“Me, too.” He winked. “So, what brought you all to New Orleans for your big party time?” He pronounced it N’Awlins, like most of the natives.
“One of the guys in our study group has been here a lot. He convinced us it would be a great place for a massive celebration.”
“And was it?”
“Oh, yes.” She grinned at him. “In spades. We hit all the great bars and restaurants and even did some sightseeing. Had beignets at Café Du Monde. You know. The usual stuff.”
“And do you feel like you got the celebration out of your system?” he asked.
Almost, she wanted to say.
“Almost?” He lifted one of those great eyebrows again.
Oh, damn. Had she actually said the word out loud? Because, idiotic as it was, she wanted to finish out her big party with the sex god sitting next to her. Beau Perini! The partners at the firm where she worked would go apeshit if they knew she was thinking about sex with Beau Perini!
Wait. Having sex? How had she gone from having a conversation to having sex?
“You must have some very heavy thoughts weighing on your mind.”
His fingers stroked along her forearm, sending sharp spikes of heat stabbing through her. That only made her breasts feel heavier and that damn throbbing pulse increase its pounding. She lifted her wine again, with her other hand, and took another gulp. Maybe she should slow down before she got drunk on her ass here.
“Um….” There she went with that um again. “Not really. I was thinking how glad I am that you wandered over here to keep me company.”
“I didn’t exactly wander over.” His fingertip made circles on her skin, sending little shivers skating along her spine.
She drew in a breath, but the rich, woodsy scent he was wearing, with a faint hint of lemon to it, sent a call for immediate action to every part of her body, especially her hormones.
“No?”
“Uh-uh. I actually had my eye on you the whole time you were sitting here. I was taking my time, waiting to see if you were coupled up with one of the guys.”
She giggled, thinking of the guys from her study group. They were all like brothers, with no sexual appeal for her in any way. She didn’t know how the other women in the group were even attracted to them after hanging out with them in grubby situations for three years.
“Not a chance,” she told him. “They can sleep on my couch but not in my bed.” Oops. Had those words in fact popped out of her mouth?
“Oh?” His eyes narrowed. “Who does sleep in your bed?”
“No one at the moment.” How had they gotten onto this topic?
“That include tonight, too?”
He lifted one of her hands, opened her palm, and pressed his lips to the spot on her wrist where her pulse now pounded so strongly. The sudden darkening of his eyes let her know he was aware how he affected her. Whoa! Things were moving way fast here, but she wasn’t sure she could stop them. Or even wanted to.
“Most likely. I mean, we just met, right?”
He leaned closer to her, tucked a finger under her chin, and turned her head so she faced him completely. The contact was like a match touched to her skin. When he spoke, his breath was a warm breeze on her skin.
“Maybe that means, with our time limited, we should get to know each other faster.”
Don’t stop there! Check out Daring to Chance It by Desiree Holt in the Dare to Love Kindle Worlds.
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Daring to Save Me
by Nicole Kuhn
“D
EENA, OH MY god, are you ok? What are you doing here?” Isabelle Dare opens the door as I finally collapse into tears. Sliding down to my knees in her doorway, I sob into my hands. “Dee, get up, come inside.” My best friend from high school whom I haven’t been allowed to see in years picks me up, trying to drag me into her luxurious New York City apartment.
“I’m so sorry Iz, I didn’t know where else to go,” I whimper. Isabelle Dare just holds my shoulders as she leads me into her living room.
“Right, so you decide to drive eight hours from Buffalo on a whim because you’re sad and missed me?” Isabelle looks directly into my eyes, concern written across her face. Taking a deep breath I can smell coffee, vanilla and baby. Baby Noah. I’ve been wanting to see him, hold him, squeeze him, but not like this. Not under these circumstances. It’s oddly quiet in here for someone having a baby. “I’m not stupid Deena, what’s really going on? Does it have something to do with the massive bruise on the side of your face?” Isabelle continues frowning at me. Of course she would catch that right away. Why wouldn’t she? Isabelle has known me almost my whole life. She leads me over to her plush white couch. Slipping down to sit on the cozy softness, I wonder how she keeps it so clean with baby Noah around here. Her husband, Gabe Dare, has given her such a better life than she had with her ex. At times I’m jealous.
“Focus Dee, what’s going on? There’s no reason you would drive here in the middle of the night, show up on my doorstep unannounced early in the morning, if you weren’t in trouble. You know I’m here for you, what can I do to help you? Are you in trouble? I thought you got a restraining order against Michael when you got the divorce? How’d you get knocked around again? Why didn’t you call the police?” Her voice is full of concern, hands wringing in her lap. Iz is normally so composed, so put together that this is unlike her. I must have really messed up to have her fidgeting.
